motty Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 I've spent a bit of time recently shooting a few ducks. I've still been keeping one eye on any good looking pigeon shooting opportunities, but for some reason they have been a bit limited just lately. Yesterday I had my first visit of the season to the marsh. I had hoped to spy a pinkfoot or two, but I was to be disappointed. So my intention afterwards was to shoot on a likely looking barley stubble near my house that had had at least 800 pigeons munching away on it only two days ago. The field had plenty of food left on it. I arrived at said field, only to find no pigeons at all. I didn't expect to see hundreds by 9.30 in the morning, but I expected to see some. I continued on my travels. I found some bean stubbles that were covered in beans, but no pigeons. I checked a recently cultivated field further up the road and found a couple of hundred birds there. I put them off. No lines coming in. I moved on. I was starting to think I would have to go home empty handed. I couldn't think of many options left. Eventually - after several more miles - I came to a field that I know really well and have shot for years. This is on one of the first pieces of land I got permission to shoot. The bean stubble in question had been recently cultivated, but there was certainly some beans still on the surface. There was plenty of activity down the far end where I intended to shoot. Getting the gear from the truck, I could see that good old flight line coming over the village and stopping at my field. It looked like I would kill a few, at least. I didn't need much of a hide, as the dyke would provide a good bit of cover. My set up included a magnet about 8 yards to my right and an angel the same distance to my left. A dozen flocked shells were put out to get me started. It was now getting on for midday, so the gun was loaded and the first customers killed. I was using the old Xtrema with extra full choke with an ounce of 7 or 7.5s mostly. For once I was on form, and I was using that combo to good effect. It was instantly apparent that a lot of my bag would be made up of juvenile birds - they were everywhere, and decoyed superbly. That's not to say that the older generation stayed away. Many of those paid the price, too. I was really enjoying myself. Being back on this field again and getting some action was just the kind of day I was hoping for. Picking some of the dead birds up, I noticed that most of them were jam packed with beans. Only the odd one had a bit of wheat or barley in. There are still several acres of standing beans in the vicinity, so that perhaps explains it. Regular doubles were falling, and I even had a couple of nice triples. A couple of times I almost felt sorry for those youngsters that I kept knocking down. At 4pm the action was slowing down. As I had been awake for around 12 hours I decided to call it a day. It was going to take an hour to tidy up, anyway. I will keep my eyes on this field for the next week or two, as I suspect more sport to come. I ended with 144 pigeons. I reckon at least 65% of those were youngsters. Sorry about the rubbish photo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 (edited) A good story indeed. You were over due a bit of a pigeon shooting. It could have been a time of day thing for the first field you looked at. Edited September 23, 2016 by JDog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konnie Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 well done. PC will be thrilled by the way they are layed out fenland style.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Well done that man!, a great write up and thanks to some local knowledge and fieldcraft a very good bag. I know what you mean regards feeling a bit sorry for the young birds, i have felt that way a bit lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Well done , you found them in the end. We have a large proportion of young birds but they are large birds.The presentation is Fenland Style but well done in using your local knowledge you achieved a good bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 thats a nice pattern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 we have been leaving some young birds that come into the decoys this summer not all but holding back on one or two great bag been a while since you posted one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted September 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Cheers gents. I will be on a different bean stubble in the morning. Should be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Cheers gents. I will be on a different bean stubble in the morning. Should be good. have a feeling you know whats in store I,ll look for the post tomorrow night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passionforangling Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 A very good bag, and a bit of an endurance test with a 4.00am get up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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